The present disclosure relates to a gas turbine engine combustor, and more particularly to a heat shield liner panel arrangement.
A gas turbine engine includes a compressor to compress air that mixes with fuel and is channeled to a combustor wherein the mixture is ignited within a combustion chamber to generate hot combustion core gases. At least some combustors include combustor liners to channel the combustion gases to a turbine which extracts energy from the combustion core gases to power the compressor, as well as produce useful work to propel an aircraft in flight or to power a load, such as an electrical generator.
Some gas turbine combustors have evolved from full hoop structures to full hoop shells with heat shield panels. Heat shield panels may have relatively low durability due to local hot spots that may cause stress and cracking. Hot spots are raised temperature areas where component properties may rapidly degrade and thereby affect the durability of the component. Hot spots are conventionally combated with more cooling air, however, this may have a potential negative effect on combustor emissions, pattern factor, and profile.